We plan on providing over 300 children’s books (The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System), Harry Potter and The Magic School Bus posters Captain Underpants trading cards, WordGirl stickers, Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge glow-in-the-dark bookmarks, EVEREADY flashlights and batteries (our sponsor this year), tote bags, reading certificates, summer reading book lists and more as kids learn about the night sky at one the nation’s most well-respected and popular scientific and cultural institutions.”

“On Friday, June 13, join us for a Brain Power Sleepover. Explore the museum at night while you have fun putting your brain power to work. Solve mind-boggling puzzles, marvel at the stars in a late night planetarium show, participate in the 2014 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge and get a free book! Learn about everything from brains to biology with interactive programs, live demos, and hands-on activities.”

(And if you’re going to do this, you might as well get a Membership, just saying.)

And there he is, famous Pierre, in the middle. His feathers growed back…

…so he no longer has a need for his wetsuit:

Here are the deets:

“When Pierre – an elderly penguin at the California Academy of Sciences – begins to go bald, the staff is worried. Without his feathers, Pierre is too cold to swim. He also looks different from the rest of the colony, so the other penguins begin to pick on him. Academy biologists try every treatment in the books to prompt new feather growth, but none of the traditional strategies work. Finally, aquatic biologist Pam Schaller has an idea: why not fit the shivering bird with a neoprene wetsuit to keep him warm? She designs a tiny wetsuit especially for Pierre, but will it work? Told in rhyme by noted I SPY author Jean Marzollo, and paired with gorgeous paintings from acclaimed wildlife artist Laura Regan, this inspirational true story comes to life.”

“To stand out, the programming should make the art on display come to life in ways that are not necessarily possible when visitors are walking through exhibition halls during normal hours.”

All right, I’ll bite. Museums should try “to stand out” for the benefit of big newspaper art critics, to satisfy them, because, because why? And what, for example, should the CalAcademy do – take the Morrison Plane’arium audience outside for a look at real stars?

That’s one big fish, but is it Art?

Leave us continue:

“Generally, the evening events that provide the instant gratification of a lively social atmosphere are not ultimately the most memorable.”

I don’t know, if you meet your life partner at one of these events, that could be considered memorable…

“The events might bring in more young people, but…”

I’ll have to interupt to say, “Sold!” This is all you need to say to sell the idea of having a night program at a cultural institution. I mean, our museums shouldn’t have night programs because that kind of thing’s has been done already? How does it benefit San Francisco to concern ourselves with what they think in New Yawk? Maybe they do things differently on the floors of Tokyo or down in London town’s a go-go, but that’s O.K., right?

“…unless more is done to distinguish these programs from one another, visitors may soon opt to spend their free evenings not at the museums, but at actual parties.”

Read the whole thing, there’s no support cited for this conclusion. I don’t know, maybe, as another possiblility, visitors will soon opt to spend all their free evenings at the museums? There’s a chance of that too, right?

And the CalAcademy’s perennially crowded nightLife program is not on a sustainable journey? Actually, it looks to be able to go on forever. And it’s too much like a party so people would rather go to a party? Does that make sense? Perhaps the throngs of young people will soon start cocking their Glocks to go to Club Suede instead?

If there ever comes a point when bay area youth get confused due to their attendence at a bunch of similar night-time programs, well, that would be like a dream come true to workers at our museums, particularly the smaller ones having trouble during this Great Recession.

Oh it’s on! Grab a slot on one of these upcoming Friday nights, June 18, July 16, or August 13, 2010, and then head over to our fantastic CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences with your kid for an overnighter.

It’s a Night at the Museum, baby! Check it:

“Participants can take in the evening songs of the rainforest birds, sing “twinkle twinkle” to a sea star at the Discovery Tidepool, and watch the fish cruise under the moonlight in the Philippine Coral Reef tank. Then, guests can catch a special penguin talk, and become stargazing gurus during an after-hours planetarium show.

“Before bedtime, sleepover guests can grab a snack of cookies and milk and settle in for story time, featuring “Pierre the Penguin,” the true story of the Academy’s famous wetsuit-wearing penguin. When the lights go out, participants can unroll their sleeping bags in African Hall, next to the swaying kelp of the California Coast tank, or even at the Swamp window, face-to-face with Claude, the albino alligator. In the morning, it’s time to rise and shine, then head over to the Academy Café for breakfast before the sleepover event ends at 8:30 am.”

If you’re an Academy Member, then all this is just $99 per kid aged six and up.

Be sure to take along yourpigiami del pinguino, you know, something like this:

SAN FRANCISCO (April 15, 2010) — Why count sheep when you could count geckos, butterflies, sharks, and penguins? Starting this summer, kids can camp out for a night at the California Academy of Sciences—and see the museum in a whole new light. The “Penguins and Pajamas” sleepover program, for children ages 6 and over and their adult chaperones, will launch with three summer events on Friday, June 18, July 16, and August 13. Tickets will be available at www.calacademy.org beginning on May 1.

Doors will open at 6:30 pm, when sleepover guests are invited to come in and explore the Academy after it’s closed to the public. Participants can take in the evening songs of the rainforest birds, sing “twinkle twinkle” to a sea star at the Discovery Tidepool, and watch the fish cruise under the moonlight in the Philippine Coral Reef tank. Then, guests can catch a special penguin talk, and become stargazing gurus during an after-hours planetarium show.

Before bedtime, sleepover guests can grab a snack of cookies and milk and settle in for story time, featuring “Pierre the Penguin,” the true story of the Academy’s famous wetsuit-wearing penguin. When the lights go out, participants can unroll their sleeping bags in African Hall, next to the swaying kelp of the California Coast tank, or even at the Swamp window, face-to-face with Claude, the albino alligator. In the morning, it’s time to rise and shine, then head over to the Academy Café for breakfast before the sleepover event ends at 8:30 am.

The “Penguins and Pajamas” Academy sleepover package includes overnight parking in the Music Concourse parking garage as well as next-day museum admission, breakfast, snacks, and a special commemorative gift. Dinner is available for purchase at the Academy Café or the Moss Room.

What: “Penguins and Pajamas” sleepover program

Who: Open to children ages 6 and over; an adult chaperone must accompany every group of up to five children.